A Medical Cyclotron, Facilities and Program at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

A new Cancer Therapy Institute at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia became fully operational in November 1982. The new building incorporates extensive facilities for the production of medically useful radionuclides and additional cancer treatment capability including two neutron therapy machines and an electron linear accelerator. A model CS30 medical cyclotron with 7 beam lines was supplied by The Cyclotron Corporation, Berkeley, California. The hot laboratory facilities include five hot cells and a radioactive gas processing station to deliver short-lived radioactive gases to a station in the positron emission tomography (PET) camera room. Facilities for radiopharmaceutical processing, quality control and packaging of radioactive materials are provided. A PDP 11/70 computer controls a fully automated air monitoring system while other computers control permission to operate equipment and monitor status of shielding doors and radiation levels both inside and outside the shielded rooms. A high level gamma irradiation facility for medical sterilization and other uses, designed to hold up to 2 million Curies of cobalt-60 is also provided. The new facility will produce short lived radionuclides for hospitals and other institutions in the Kingdom and the nearby area while also providing an opportunity to investigate the effectiveness of high energy neutrons in cancer treatment.